Yesterday
by ItsLukasBondevik
Summary: Birthdays were very important to Rapunzel. A vignette for every birthday.
1. One

One

Rapunzel turned one today. Her golden hair was near her knees already, and Mother Gothel couldn't help but notice that it grew much faster than normal hair. This didn't phase her, however, as she began to sing her incantation, watching the hair illuminate the room. Her body felt younger again, the gray disappearing from her face, and the wrinkles smoothing out into the soft, pale skin that she had for the several hundred years she had been alive.

She lifted the baby girl out of her crib, taking her downstairs from the room they shared, and Rapunzel yawned herself awake, fisting her hand in Gothel's hair and looking at the only mother she knew with her bright green eyes, questions in them. The woman put the child down in a modified chair and fed her breakfast. After the young girl had finished eating, Gothel stole out of the room for a moment. Never having raised a child before, she did not know what was appropriate for birthdays, but knew that if she was to pass for the girl's mother, she would play the part properly.

Walking back into the room, she sang, "Happy birthday, dear Rapunzel!" She placed a small cake before the girl, and Rapunzel squished her hand into the home made frosting, giggling excitedly as she ate it off. Gothel couldn't hold back a smile as she cut a piece out for her young ward, letting her have at it and making quite a mess of it. She indulged herself in a piece, eating it with a little bit more finesse than the child. After Rapunzel appeared to be finished with her cake, Gothel cleaned her up and put away the food, bringing out one small box wrapped in colored paper with a pastel ribbon. "And your present," she said.

Rapunzel did not know what to do with it, so Gothel ripped the paper for her, pulling out a small doll. The baby shrieked in her excitement, holding the doll tightly to herself and patting back the toy's hair from its face. "Mama!" she said happily, reaching her arms out to be picked up. Gothel obliged, taking the child back into the bedroom and sitting on the rug with her, holding the doll up to her face and Rapunzel laughed, taking the toy gently into her arms so as not to hurt it.

For a moment, Gothel felt soft, watching the child she had come to accept as a permanent fixture in her life. All she wanted was her flower, but she got a precocious baby girl that took up almost all of her time. She couldn't bring herself to regret the decision. She was young, and for some reason, she was happy with the child in her life. After all, raising the girl was nothing more than a bump in the road to eternal life.

And now, she wouldn't be lonely all the centuries in the future when they both would be forever young.

AN: I imagine that Gothel MUST have cared about Rapunzel more than her as her walking, talking fountain of youth. You can't take care of a person for eighteen years and not care at least a little bit about them. Well, I want this to go through several birthdays, even after her eighteenth, so reviews will keep me working! Don't make me use the Smolder on you! (though admittedly it wouldn't do much but make you inch away slowly.)


	2. Two

Two

Rapunzel was sitting on the rug as it rained outside, her hands colored up to the wrists in her new finger paints. Her mother was in the next room, but she was unconcerned, as her painting was coming out just right. She sloshed her hand in a pail of blue and slapped the color onto the page, giggling happily as it left a giant blue hand print in the middle of the last white spot. Watching it carefully for any imperfections, the toddler stood up and rushed into the other room, tugging on her mother's dress with her clean hand.

Gothel batted the child away at first, fixing her hair in the mirror, but Rapunzel was not deterred. "Mommy," she said happily. "Look!" She pointed back to the painting, and the woman stood from the chair she had previously been occupying, lifting the dripping picture from the now ruined rug.

"It's a mess," she cooed to little Rapunzel, who didn't truly know what her mother way saying, just enjoyed the way she was saying it. It sounded nice to her ears.

"Like it?" she questioned, sitting back down next to the artwork. She waited for approval from Gothel, who watched the young girl with a blasé expression for quite some time before getting up from her kneeling position, heading back to the table in the other room. Rapunzel followed her mother, trailing the paper behind her, feeling a little put out that she didn't have more interest in her work. "Mommy?"

Annoyed that the young girl was interrupting her pampering, Gothel said impatiently, "Yes, it's very nice, Rapunzel, dear, now please, Mommy is busy." She took a step back from the velvet clad woman, feeling rather ashamed for bothering her mother, and scurried back into the other room, dropping the paper behind her. For a moment all was quiet, and she was confused, remembering the sound of rain hitting the roof of the tower. She looked towards the window and noticed the clouds had moved on, leaving a bright half moon in their wake.

She moved towards the window and climbed onto the ledge, her hair brushing her ankles as she sat down on her knees. Rapunzel wondered where the clouds went when they weren't outside of her tower, if they moved somewhere else to rain on another little girl in another tower. As she pondered this, a single, shining light caught her eye. Before long, thousands of stars were floating in the distance, but closer than she had ever seen them before. They were glimmering beautifully in the dark sky, so captivating that she couldn't tear her green eyes away from the sight. She was enraptured, wanting to be closer, to touch one if she could, and she leaned farther out the window.

"Rapunzel!" She was whisked away and the shutters slammed closed, startling her to tears. "You could have fallen out and hurt yourself, or worse!" Gothel was angry with her, and Rapunzel cried loudly. All she wanted to do was catch a star.


	3. Three

Three

There was silence. Rapunzel was sitting alone on a low stool, her knees to her chest, waiting for her mother. The bedroom door was locked, like it always was when Gothel was out, and she was bored. All her paper was used up, so she had nothing to paint on, and her puzzle was completed sitting in the corner, a big girl 18 piece her mother had gotten her for her birthday this year. She wondered how long her mother would be and pulled out a sketching stick, running it on her finger and leaving a trail of black along her skin.

She stood up and stretched, her hair underfoot as she walked in endless circles around the room, looking up at the ceiling. There was a small window there, but she couldn't ever reach it, so she watched it sometimes, wondering if the wooden trap sealing it shut would ever magically fall open and she could see what was above her. She sat back down on her bed again, her legs to her chest, feeling very alone. She wondered if her mother was going to come home soon, because she was starting to feel a little hungry.

A creak was heard, and she jumped up, her eyes wide, wondering if it was her mother, or if something scarier had come to steal her away. She scurried under her bed, terrified, and peeked out from under the bed skirt. Her bedroom door made a loud click as it was unlocked, and she saw, with great relief, that her mother walked in, her basket full to the brim. "Mommy!" she cried, running over to the woman and hugging her around the waist. "I thought you were a monster."

Gothel stood stark still for a moment, unsure of what to do before she patted the young girl on her head, giving her a gentle smile. "Don't worry, dear," she said putting the basket down and taking Rapunzel up into her arms. "Mommy's here and won't let anything hurt you."

"I know Mommy," she replied with a smile, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Gothel kissed her forehead and put her back down on the floor, shaking her basket tantalizingly. "Mommy?" she asked, not daring to get her hopes up.

Gothel cooed, "Guess what I brought home?" She put the basket on the floor and allowed her daughter to rummage through it, squealing at each new find. She brought home parsnips, ingredients for apple pie, and a delicious fish dinner that Rapunzel had only tasted once because her mother felt the fish would be too rich for her sensitive young stomach. "Happy birthday, Rapunzel!"

"Thank you Mommy!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and running around the room, her hair flying behind her in a golden ribbon.

"But first!" she said, holding a finger up and catching Rapunzel on the forehead. "Mommy's going to teach you something." She took Rapunzel by the hand, and sat her before her on the bed, pulling a brush out. "Repeat after me, dear." Her bright green eyes were wide and curious, as her mother began to sing a song that she had heard traces of for as long as she could remember. "_Flower gleam and glow._"

"_Flower gleam and glow._"

Her hair began to shimmer and Gothel smiled. "_Let your power shine._"

"_Let your power shine._"

"_Make the clocks reverse, bring back what once was mine._"

"_Make the clocks reverse, bring back what once was mine._" Rapunzel's sweet young voice filled the room, and Gothel could feel herself grow younger by the moment, the veins in her hands vanishing, her hair turning onyx black again, the pains of old age no longer weary on her bones. Her skin was flawless, her face, perfect, and any signs of her true age, a number she knew was higher than any person to have ever existed, were no longer apparent.

"Can you remember that song, flower?" she asked sweetly, untangling the loose knots from her daughter's hair. She nodded vigorously, determined to please her mother, and kept her hands folded over her lap, repeating the words to herself so she would never forget.

AN: I was DETERMINED to get something written today, but Tumblr's been addicting and my brain has been completely uncooperative. I finally, at midnight sheesh, got this little tidbit out. Hope you enjoy it!


	4. Four

Four

Gothel sneaked into her daughter's room. It was currently almost seven in the morning, and the golden haired girl was fast asleep. She sat down next to her in the bed, running her hand along the soft tresses as they tumbled delicately off the edge of the bed to the floor. She began to hum to herself, then sang softly the song that brought her eternal youth, a gentle glow illuminating Gothel's pale features.

As the song finished, and her face looked twenty years younger, she touched her daughter's arm, shaking her gently. "Rapunzel, darling," she said, her icy blue eyes close to the girl's face. "Time to wake up." The young girl was roused from her sleep, and watched her mother with sleepy green eyes, looking a bit confused as to what was going on. "You don't want the waste the entire day sleeping on your birthday do you, dear?"

The little girl sat up straight, her face full of excitement and shook her head. "No, mommy!" she said, scrambling to get out of bed and nearly fell face first on the floor. Gothel caught her by the waist and lowered her down carefully, giving her a scolding look for being so careless. Rapunzel looked at her feet, which pointed together nervously, and she asked, "What are we doing today?"

"I'm going to show you something very lovely, dear," she said with a smile, taking her down from the room by her hand and covering her eyes for the surprise. Rapunzel was antsy with anticipation, and she nearly leaped forward out of her mother's grasp to see what was going on. But she waited as Gothel sat her down at the table and said, "Surprise!" She removed her hand, and Rapunzel gasped in excitement. A beautiful ebony necked guitar with steel strings and a mahogany body sat with a purple bow before her. She put her fingers on the sleek wood, her eyes huge and excited.

"It'll give you something to do while I'm away during the day, dear," her mother simpered, sitting beside her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She pulled out a stack of papers with pictures written how to play the guitar, where to put her fingers. "The man at the store said that you may be too young to learn, but darling, I disagree."

Rapunzel took a leap and hugged her mother around the neck. "Thank you mommy! I love it so much," she exclaimed happily, shifting through the parchment with awe.

"Before you get too excited let's have some breakfast," Gothel suggested, pushing the instrument and the sheets away from her daughter and bringing out a place of eggs and toast. "Mommy's going to be gone until very late tonight, dear, so stay in your room until I get home. All right dear?" The girl nodded, unable to speak through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, and hurried through her breakfast so she could try out her new present.

AN: You know, I have no idea when the guitar was invented, but seeing as it was in the movie, well, who can say right? Ah well.


	5. Five

Five

Rapunzel was ready for bed, excited to use her new canopy that her mother had put in for her. She quickly brushed her teeth and hurried to the fireside, pulling her mother's chair up and waiting with the brush. Gothel was in the other room, singing to herself as she changed into her silky red pajama gown. She was anxious, but could wait for her mother to be ready so she didn't get scolded for being too energetic. Sometimes her mother was too tired to handle her being hyper.

The woman exited the room and took a seat by the fire, taking the silver handled comb from her daughter's hand. "Did you have a good birthday?" she asked quietly, starting to brush through the long tresses carefully, like they would break if she brushed too hard. Rapunzel nodded very slightly, so as not to disturb her mother. "Would you sing for me darling?" Again, she nodded, and recited the song that she knew as long as she could remember, that she sang for her mother every single day without fail.

Gothel took the little girl by the hand and led her to bed, tucking her daughter in to sleep. "I love you very much dear," she said, brushing the hair out of her face and smiling at her.

"I love you more, Mommy."

Kissing the top of her head, Gothel replied, "I love you most." She couldn't help but smile as her mother left the room, blowing the candle out. She left the door slightly ajar, which was unlike her, but Rapunzel didn't notice, digging herself deeper into her sheets. A glimmer caught her eye just before she closed them, and her lids snapped back open, feeling slightly afraid. Was it a thug who had come to take her away? Did he sneak past her mother?

She almost hid back under the sheets, until the window outside of her door caught her eye. She crept out of bed, and silently down the stairs, right by her mother's bedroom where the woman was sound asleep. Her hair trailed on the floor behind her, and she walked up to the window that her mother had left open accidentally for the night.

Far off in the distance, above the trees, in the darkened sky, thousands and thousands of stars were floating lazily through the air. They were so close, but she knew, for some reason, that her mother would be angry with her for being out here, for watching them, so she stayed put. She wanted to take one from the sky and bring it back into her room to keep, her hopes were not so high as to think that would ever happen. They were beautiful though, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from them.

They were so many different colors than the stars she was used to seeing, so tiny and far away from her. They were oranges and pale yellows and golds, and she wondered if someone else was watching them too. With that thought, she didn't quite feel so alone.


End file.
